Problem: Earlier this month, ISMP held its second national summit on smart infusion pumps. The first summit, held in 2008, examined smart pump implementation, drug libraries, and clinical practice, and resulted in publication of the ISMP Guidelines for Safe Implementation and Use of Smart Infusion...
Resource Library
Whether you have experienced a medication error in your organization or you are proactively implementing prevention strategies, you are not alone. Thousands of organizations worldwide have relied on ISMP's resources for institutional change to reduce errors on a daily basis. These resources are developed from ISMP's review of reports through its national error reporting programs, peer-reviewed articles in its publications, and/or consensus gathering summits on topics pertinent to specific errors or hazards. ISMP offers a wide range of downloadable and easy to use resources. Many are free.
All Resources
Hospira, a Pfizer company, released a letter last week, in coordination with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), detailing instructions for handling certain drugs and lot numbers of CARPUJECT glass syringes that may have cracked needle hubs and/or contain particulate matter. The list includes...
The latest issue of ISMP’s QuarterWatch™ (see description at the end of the article) examines drug safety issues identified by monitoring new adverse drug event reports submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). New data received during the third...
Limited regulatory guidance exists for investigational drug labeling, packaging, and nomenclature, exposing sites that participate in clinical trials to many troubling product-related safety risks. Many of these risks are unique to investigational drugs and are less likely to be encountered with US...
An investigational drug is a chemical or biological substance that has been tested in the laboratory and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for testing in people during clinical trials. Investigational drugs can include both prescription and nonprescription medications, but some...
In two recent surveys on smart infusion pump (smart pump) usage in the US, more than 1,000 nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals provided ISMP with a unique glimpse into the successes, safety concerns, and barriers with the optimization of smart pumps. Most respondents reported...
Problem: Increasingly, ISMP has been receiving complaints and reports of errors, some serious, about prefilled compounded syringes that look alike. Drug shortages may be worsening the situation, as hospitals may be relying more on compounders they have not previously used to fulfill their needs. The...
Surgical fires that ignite in or around patients can have devastating consequences, particularly if oxygen sources are present during head, face, neck, or upper chest surgeries. 1 There are an estimated 200-240 surgical fires each year in the US, occurring in operating rooms or during procedures in...
Problem: Nebulization of inhaled medications provides an excellent delivery route for the treatment of both pulmonary and nonpulmonary conditions. The mist is easily inhaled by breathing normally, without requiring coordinated breaths to inhale the medication (as required with metered dose inhalers)...